Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

We are small but we are far from ineffectual. We are a country that punches well above its weight in international relations. I did not say what the Deputy said: the misleader strikes again putting words in other people's mouths and stating things that are not true.

If the Deputy ever has the opportunity to attend a European Council meeting, whether as a Minister or perhaps even as Taoiseach, she will understand that there are 27 different member states and they all have their different perspective. Our attitude to the conflict in Israel and Palestine is very much guided by our own historical experience but the Deputy needs to understand that people's attitudes in other countries might also be guided by their historical experience, particularly in relation to the events in the 1930s and 1940s, and you have to be sensitive to that and not pigheaded about it. It is important the way you conduct yourself in international affairs.

The Tánaiste and I have been extremely active on this with huge numbers of meetings and phone calls. We were instrumental in making sure the European Council statement issued last Sunday was balanced and was not one sided. We were instrumental in that along with a number of other countries in the European Union. We do have friends and we do have allies. We build up those contacts and those relationships all of the time. Among our friends are the Palestinians, by the way. They would recognise that as do all the other Arab countries. My fear is the Deputy's approach if she was Taoiseach would not make friends but would make enemies in the European Union and make enemies with the United States of America. Our country would suffer as a result and the Palestinians would gain nothing.

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